Picker stick



Jan. v26, 1926.

-J. B. TATEM PICKER STICK I lui/fili Patented Jan. ze, 192e;

IUNI-TED :sT-Ares;- PATENTjoFFma JAMES B. TATEM, OF PUTNAM, CONNECTICUT,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE .AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPANY, OF

PORATION F CONNECTICUT.

vTICKER STICK.y

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES B. TATEM, a citizenof the United States, and a resident of Putnam, county of Vindhain,State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Picker Sticks, of which the following is a specification.

It has been the common practice to employ a picker stick constructedentirely of wood and, while this construction is of advantage in that itprovides for a certain amount of desired resiliency and is a protectionagainst serious damage to the loom in that the picker stick, being ofwood, may break in thefevent that certain things should go wrong, thusavoiding more serious injury to other parts, all-wooden picker sticksare objectionable in that they crack and break under the normal strainsto which they are subjected and, when they become bro-kenorunserviceable, it is necessary to replace the entire stick, althoughit may be broken or cracked at but one end. y l

The aim of the present invention is toprovide an improved constructionof picker stick having a metallic section and a wooden section, thearrangement being such that, in the event the wooden section shouldbreak or become unserviceable, it may be readily detached from the metalsection and a new wooden section substituted in its place.

The wooden section of my improved stick is relatively shorter than anall-wooden stick and may, therefore, be replaced atf a lesser cost thanwould be the case if the stick were made entirely of wood, and thus amaterial saving is had. y y

An object of the invention is to provide a picker stick of the characterdescribed having various features of novelty and advantage and which isparticularly characterized by its simplicity Vin construction, itseconomy in manufacture, its effectiveness in oper ation, and the easeand facility with which the sections may be dissembled and assembled. 1

A. further aim of the invention is to provide means for taking up play.between the wooden and metal sections as, for example, where the woodensection shrinks in size.

Other objects will be in part obvious and -in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists inthe gagement, as shown in Fig. i1.

features'of construction, combination of elements and arrangement ofparts which will be exemplified in the constructionhereinafter setforth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated inthe appended claims.

,Fig. 3. is a transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Figel;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1'; 1 y f l Fig. is -aview showing the lower end of BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A Con-v the blankof metal from which the metal section of the stick. is formed; and

Fig. 6 is a viewv showing, on a reduced scale, another embodiment.

Referring vto the drawing inl detail, 10

designates the metal section, and 11, the

wooden section. In-'the present illustrative disclosure, the metalsection is shown as being channel shape in cross section, but it is tobe understood that, while this is the preferred form so far as certainfeatures of the invention lare concerned, the metal section may have ashape other than that illustrated. Preferably, the metal section isformed from sheet metal by cutting out a blank to the desiredconfiguration, and then bending or pressing. it to final shape. In thepresent instance, the lower end of the blank, as will rbe seenk mostclearly from Fig. 5, has one corner rounded and its other corner cutaway, as at 12, and then the blank'is bent along the dotted lines ofFig. 5 so as to form the flanges, the outer flange being curved at itsklower end, as at 13, and the edgesof the notchor cut away portionlbeing in fen- 14, shown in dotted lines Fig. 1, and to which strap aspring is adapted to be connected, engages against the `rounded portion13.

For the purpose of The strap maintaining the flanges e of the metalsection in proper relation and to furnish a substantial bearing for thestud or bolt on which the picker stick is mounted or pivoted, there ispro-vided, adjacent the lower end of the metal section, a wooden insertor block 15 having a through opening 16. The flanges of the metalsection are provided with openings in alinement with the opening 16 ofthe block and, preferably, the edges of the openings in the flanges areflanged inwardly so as to form bosses 17 which constitute substantialbearings for the bolt or stud. Since the bolt or stud has a long bearingin both the block and the bosses, there is but little or no wear betweenthe parts, a feature of considerable advantage. From Fig. 1, it will beseen that the sides of the block l5 are cliannelled or grooved, as at18, so as to accommodate the bosses. The bosses thus center the blockand hold it in proper position.

'Ihe lower end of the wooden section of the picker stick lits betweenthe flanges of the metal section and is secured in positioin in suitablemanner as, for instance, by means of bolts 20 passing through theflanges and the wooden section. Preferably, there is provided betweenthe metal section and the wooden section a wedge. 21, the purpose ofwhich is to take up play or looseness between the sections as, forinstance, when the wooden section shrinks, and this wedge is further ofadvantage in that it may be employed for adjusting the height of the lugor sweep-stick strap 22. In the present 1nstance, the wedge 2l isinterposed between one of the flan-ges of the metal section and theopposed face of the wooden section and is slotted, as at 23, so as toaccommodate the bolts 20. That face ofthe wedge which engages the woodensection is provided with teeth 24; which bite into the wood and thushold the wedge in adjusted position and against vertical creeping.Preferably, the lug strap 22 is connected to the wedge so that the strapVmay be adjusted by'varying the posit-ion of the wedge, and also tocause the wedge to be normally held and urged into tighter wedgingposition by the pull on the lug strap. To this end, in Figs. 1,

y 2 and 3, the wedge isv provided with an arm 26 which extendsdownwardly alongside of the metal section, and the lug strap 22 isconnected to the lower end of this arm in any suitable manner, as bylmeans of a loop or hanger strap 27 In Fig. 6, the lug strap holder isseparate from the wedge. VIt has a resilient arm 26 carried by anattaching portion 30 secured on the outside of the metal section by thebolts 20. 'Ihe attaching portion is slotted, as at 31, to permit theholder to be adjusted longitudinally ofthe picker stick when it isdesired to change the position of the lug strap.

It Will be seenfrom the foregoing description, taken in connection withthe drawings, that my improved picker stick is very simple inconstruction and may be economi-- cally manufactured. The wooden sectionis clamped in place in such manner that it may be readily removed. Themetallic section may be easily and cheaply formed and is strong' anddurable. The wooden section is secured in place in a simple manner,permitting it to be substituted by a new one when the old one has becomebroken or worn out. In the embodiment Vof Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the positionof the lug strap may be changed by loosening the nuts on the. bolts 20,adjusting the wedge, and then turning up the nuts to clamp the wedge inposition. It will be noted that the strains exerted on the lug straptend to urge or pull the wedge downwardly so that play between the metaland wooden sections is automatically taken up. The wedge cannot moveupwardly on account of the teeth 24 which, preferably, are in the formof saw teeth. The arm 26 provides the picker stick with a certain amountof resiliency which makes it more effective in operation.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is in*L tended to cover all of the generic and specific featuresof the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be said to falltherebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section with itslower end fitting in the upper end of said metal section, a wedgebetween the metal and wooden sections, and means for securing the partstogether.

2. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section with itslower end fitting in the upper end of the metal section, a wedge betweenthe side of the wooden section and the metal section provided with teethadapted to bite into the wooden section, and bolts passing through saidsections and said wedge for securing the parts t0.- gether.

8. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section with itslower end fitting in the upper end of the metal section, l a. wedgebetween the metal and wooden sections and having teeth engaging thewooden section shaped to permit the wedge toA creep into closer wedgingposition and to prevent the wedge from creeping out of wedging position,and means for securing the parts together.

4. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section with oneend removably mounted in the adjacent end of the metal section, a memberbetween said sec-- tions for taking up play and looseness therebetween,and a lug strap connected to said member and normally urging the sameinto operative position.

5. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section with itslower end fitting within the upper end of the metal section, a wedgebetween the sections, a lug strap connected to the wedge, and means forremovably securing the sections together.

6. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section with itslower end fitting within the upper end of the metal section, a wedgebetween the sections provided with teeth engaging the wooden section andarranged to permit the wedge to creep into closer wedging position andto hold it against creeping out of wedging position, means for clampingthe sections together. and a lug strap connected to the wedge andadapted to urge the same into closer wedging position.

7. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section with itslower end fitting within the upper end of the metal Section, a Wedgebetween the sections having an arm extending downwardly alongside of themetal section, and a lug strap connected to said arm. Y

8. A picker stick having a metal sec-tion channel shaped in' crosssection, and a wooden section with its lowerend litting in the upper endof the metal section, said metal section having, in its opposed walls,openings with the edges thereof flanged inwardly to provide bosses, anda filler block between said flanges and having a hole in registry withthe openings of the bosses and `forming therewith a bearing for a studor pivot, said liller block being grooved on its side faces toaccommodate said bosses.

9. A picker stick having a metal section and a wooden section removablysecured in the -upper end of 'the metal section, said metal sectionbeing channel shaped in cross section and having one of its side flangescurved across the bottom of the metal section to provide a curved strapengaging surface.

JAMES B. TATEM.

